INTERNATIONAL BUSINESS DEVELOPMENT AND THE INTERNET, POST-HYPE

In this paper we examine a range of effects of the Internet on international business development following the collapse of speculation and hype surrounding the ‘Internet bubble’ in the recent past. Internet effects are considered by focusing on different dimensions of firms’ internationalisation: specifically, internationalisation capacity, as represented by strategy, structure, technology, human resources and financial resources; and internationalisation patterns. While the Internet may have been over-hyped during the recent ‘bubble’ stage, there is little doubt that it has affected many aspects of companies’ international operations – accelerating some stages of development, although it would appear that firms are still learning how to productively incorporate the power of the Internet across the full range of their international operations in different markets, and develop a better fit with traditional forms of operation.